In a mobile telecommunication network like a UMTS system, a primary station, for instance a Node B (or Base Station or eNB) communicates with at least one secondary station, for instance a User Equipment (or Mobile Station), by means of a plurality of channels. In order to transmit data to the primary station, a secondary station needs to request a resource to the primary station, which is then allocated. This request of allocation can be made in several ways depending on the considered channel.
In an example, in order to request a resource, it is required to indicate the amount of data to be transmitted, i.e. the data in the buffer of the secondary station. To this end, the secondary station transmits to the primary station a buffer status report indicative of the amount of data in the secondary station buffer. Thus, the primary station allocates a resource corresponding to both the capability of the network and the amount of data to be transmitted. This permits the allocation of resource to be adjusted.
In order to transmit this Report, the secondary station uses for instance an ARQ protocol, or an HARQ protocol. It means that the secondary station may retransmit the message until it receives a positive acknowledgement of reception from the primary station. In such a case, it is possible that a first report is finally correctly received long after having been transmitted, and in some cases even after a second report updating the first report. In such a case, the primary station may discard the second report believing that the first report is representative of the current status. This can lead to a waste of resources (if the second report indicated that no data was in the buffer), or in delays (if the first report indicated that no data was in the buffer).